Current Situation:A large smoke column visible in many areas on Sunday was from interior burning in the Church Creek drainage. This burning was stimulated by high winds that reached gusts of 51 mph. The fire, while active in that area, did not breach containment lines. Firefighters will be focusing today on the Church Creek area to cut off fire growth.
Outside of the Church Creek area, fire activity on the perimeter was limited to creeping and backing. Fire behavior today is expected to have similar characteristics. Winds are expected to lessen today.
The fire is in transition. Firefighters continue aggressive suppression in areas where there is active burning, primarily on the fire’s east side. But objectives are changing to reflect the work on suppression repair, which addresses adverse environmental effects caused by firefighters and equipment during periods of active firefighting. Three suppression repair groups are now working on the east side. Suppression repair also continues to be a priority on the west side.
Firefighters have completed contingency lines in the southeastern area. In the southwestern area, crews are seeking and extinguishing hot spots and making sure the burned areas are cold.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has lifted the evacuation order for the east side of Tassajara Road from Chews Ridge to Bruce Ranch; Bruce Ranch East along Anastasia Canyon to Carmel Valley Road and South Carmel Road from Anastasia Canyon to Tash Ranch.
Evacuation warnings were lifted from north of Carmel Valley Road from Hastings Preserve to Cahoon Ranch and north of Carmel Valley Road from Cahoon Ranch East to Tash Ranch. All other evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect. Information on evacuations is available at http://tinyurl.com/hcwvsro.
The lifting of the evacuation orders and warnings are the result of progress on the fire. Firefighters continue to complete and improve lines on the spot fires near Chews Ridge and Arroyo Seco.
For more information, visit: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4888/ or follow us at http://www.facebook.com/LosPadresNationalForest or http://www.twitter.com/LosPadresNF.

After evaluating weather and fire conditions, the Soberanes Fire incident management team has made the decision to go direct. Barring unexpected events, there will be no burnouts in the Arroyo Seco area. Recent days of favorable weather, including increases in relative humidity, have created conditions that allow firefighters to engage closer to the fireline.
Direct attack on a fire means constructing a containment line directly on the fire perimeter. The advantages:

· Minimal area is burned; no additional area is intentionally burned

· It is often the safest tactic because firefighters can usually escape into the burned area

· The uncertainties of firing operations can be reduced or eliminated

The disadvantages:

· Firefighters can be hampered by heat, smoke and flames

· Control lines can be long and irregular

· Burning material can easily spread across mid-slope lines

· Can only be initiated when escapes routes and safety zones are available

· More mop-up and patrol is usually required
On Saturday, crews maintained and improved the line around the Chews Ridge spot fire and will continue to do mop-up today. Crews also will continue to mop up the spot fire near Arroyo Seco.